Monster success: This double dose of Frankenstein is full of life

Frankenstein (National Theatre)

Can the birth of any Frankenstein have been so eagerly awaited as this one at the National Theatre?

Staged by Danny Boyle who directed the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, it stars two highly feted actors: Benedict Cumberbatch (of TV’s Sherlock) and Jonny Lee Miller, who appeared in one of Boyle’s earlier films, Trainspotting.

Together they alternate on consecutive nights as Mary Shelley’s ambitious scientist
Victor Frankenstein and his macabre handiwork ‘The Creature’.

With the prodigious resources of the National Theatre at his disposal, Boyle directs the gothic classic like a kid in a toy shop.

We even get a totally gratuitous steam engine, complete with tracks and sleepers, pumping away on set near the start – never to be seen again.

Mark Tildesley’s design has the entire stage and auditorium wrapped in grey cloth, giving it the grim appearance of a quarry.

Overhead, a vast UFO encrusted with light bulbs hangs like the Milky Way.

From the bowels of the theatre rises Frankenstein’s tasteful family home, as well as an Orkney croft and Lake Geneva itself.

Monster: Slumdog Millionaire director Boyle is said to stage the gothic classic 'like a kid in a toy shop'. Here Jonny Lee Miller is 'The Creature'

Classic: The original Frankenstein book is still as relevant today as it was in the 19th century

Miraculously, none of this – not even the booming, moaning and echoing sound effects – upstages the actors. In fact, Boyle draws terrifically gutsy performances from his two leads.

For the first 20 minutes as The Creature, both men are found wearing literally only a stitch – or should that be stitches? – writhing in various yoga poses (I’m sure I recognised Downward Facing Dog) and risking emasculation by scooting face-down across the wooden floor.

The visceral nature of the performances is tremendously impressive – and that goes for Victor in his full 19th century regalia too.

Cumberbatch, playing the megalomaniac scientist on the first of the two opening nights, was breathless with pride, volcanic with contempt and quivering with foreboding.

His ginger locks seemed about to catch fire at any moment.

Life-like: Naomie Harris as Elizabeth Lavenza in the show which has become a success at the National Theatre

Ghouls: The show has impresses critics and theatre-goers and is likely to be 'spoken of for years to come'

Jonny Lee Miller, former spouse of Angelina Jolie, was no less riveting as The Creature – despite lacking the Boris Karloff bolt through his neck and looking remarkably fit for an assemblage of putrefying flesh.

With foamy diction and jerky movement, his journey from noble savage to violent criminal is a vivid quest of self discovery.

It all grew too much for one spectator, former Mr Darcy Matthew Macfadyen.

He squeezed past critics to take a comfort break in the middle of the show, which clocks in at two hours without an interval.

There are a few problems. Frankenstein’s father is bizarrely played as a huge, camp West Indian.

Boyle sometimes lays on too many effects, and the dialogue in Nick Dear’s script is often drably pedestrian.

But this is a memorable production and will doubtless be spoken of for years to come.

It’s long been sold out, but you could always try watching for free on the TV monitors in the National’s roomy foyers.